We spend over 90,000 hours of our lives at work, yet UK workers’ job satisfaction continues to fall. According to one study, satisfaction figures in London are even lower than the rest of the UK, with almost 80% of workers reporting they are unhappy in their job.

I have often wondered why so many people stay in jobs they aren’t happy with, tolerating such seemingly low levels of job satisfaction.

It’s fair to say that careers today don’t look like the careers of 20, 10, or even 5 years ago.

Gone are the days of the elusive ‘job for life’. And gone are the days where that’s all we want from our careers.

The 2019 Career

People today want more from their jobs than just a steady income and to slowly climb the corporate ladder. Financial security will always be important, particularly with rising rent and living costs. But there are other factors that have overtaken money as priorities for workers of the 21st century.

We want to be valued, to feel that our contribution is being recognised and to be able to understand how we are contributing to the business’ success. We want our work to have purpose.

No job or career is perfect, but with advances in technology and globalisation, there are more opportunities to shift your career in a direction that suits you. The internet can help you build a portfolio career, work remotely, freelance, or run your own business online. There are more job vacancies listed online than ever before, and sites like LinkedIn can help connect us to information, people and industries that we may not have otherwise discovered.